Chapter 1811 Renzijuan Crisis Gradually Comes to Ziying’s Deep Plot
Feng Ziying likes Shen Yixiu's level of depth very much. She not only expresses her concern for herself, but also does not explore too much. She has a good grasp of the scale. Unless she is willing to take the initiative to inform the other party, otherwise she will only touch the surface. Everything depends on her. manner.
In comparison, Baochai is too cautious, while Baoqin is too eager. As for Yingchun and Eryou, they are inferior in knowledge.
Shen Yixiu was a boudoir lady who was born in an official, and as Shen Jue's eldest daughter, Shen Jue often did not shy away from court affairs just because she was a woman.
During Shen Yan's time as Yu Shi, he often discussed with his daughter, and after Shen Yan served as Dongchangfu Zhifu and Shanxi Cheng announced his political ambassador to participate in politics, Shen Yixiu has always maintained a letter with his father.
During this period, it was inevitable to talk about current affairs with his father in letters, and sometimes he would even exchange some of his husband's views and opinions with his father, so in this regard, both Xue Baochai and Xue Baoqin were inferior.
Of course, Feng Ziying would sometimes talk about current affairs with Baochai and Baoqin. In his opinion, Baochai and Baoqin were both extremely smart women, and she was also an official. Although she later became an imperial merchant, in some aspects His sensitivity is still maintained, so his talent is not bad.
On the contrary, Lin Daiyu is the least sensitive in this aspect. In vain, her father is still Emperor Yonglong's most trusted salt inspector, but Daiyu has not inherited any talent in this area, and she is sad all day long. , indulged in such poetic and picturesque scenery, but this also made Feng Ziying more satisfied.
If it were true that Daiyu was discussing government affairs with me all the time, then the style of painting would be too outrageous and would also disappoint me, a fan of Red Mansions.
"My lord, what you mean is that the court does not pay so much attention to these rebellious things, but is more concerned about what can be gained from it?" Shen Yixiu frowned, a little unbelievable. The long-term too orthodox concept still made it hard for her to Accept this.
Feng Ziying could understand his wife's surprise, but he still regarded many things as too sacred and ideal. He thought for a while and then said: "Wan Jun, if you change your perspective, you can understand this kind of thing. It's nothing more. It was two brothers fighting for the family property. The servants in the mansion each took sides. Then everyone occupied several rooms and yelled and cursed at each other. Then, the children of each family had not had time to separate. They were still in each other's room. The situation was still unclear. Under such circumstances, how much hatred would you have for those children, and would you even want to kill them?"
After saying this, Shen Yixiu seemed to understand a little. In fact, these people who were seized now are not really key figures at all. It is impossible for real key figures to stay in the capital stupidly at this time. The city is waiting for the court to take over. Whether it is the Niu family, the Wang family or the Jia family, they are just idle or marginalized characters. Even if they are killed, how much impact will it have on the overall situation?
If he realized something, Shen Yixiu also chuckled: "Then my husband is still running around making plans for the Jia family? Anyway, the court only wants money, so all these things from the Jia family will be confiscated and then sold, at most. It's just that the Jia family has been exiled and given away, but their lives are still safe."
"That's still a little different." Feng Ziying shook her head, "The Feng family is also a family friend of the Jia family. Baochai and Yingchun are also related to the Jia family. I can be considered related to them. If I don't help someone, If you help me, you will also attract people to gossip."
Feng Ziying couldn't go into details. Besides, Shen Yixiu was generous, but women's emotions in this regard also changed at a moment's notice, so it was best to avoid them if they could. Even if the other party knew that she was avoiding them intentionally, it would be better than confronting her in front of her. It’s good to say this in person.
Shen Yixiu seemed to have realized something. He smiled and said nothing, and stopped arguing with her husband. Once the matter was over, her husband also had his own ideas and would not change anything because of his words.
******
"Since the news of the refugees coming to Beijing from Datong spread, the price of food in the city has increased by another 10% within five days. If this continues, there will be problems." Fang Congzhe said in a sour voice: "The refugees are still on the road. The earliest batch has passed Fangshan, and the furthest behind is still on the line from Zijingguan to Yizhou. There are nearly ten thousand victims following Yizhou..."
"The grain in the second warehouse of Jingtong is far from enough to hold down the price of grain..." Huang Ruliang, the Minister of Household Affairs, said with a gloomy face, "Now it is not a problem of grain itself, but an expected problem. Everyone believes that there is not enough grain in Beijing, so the size of the grain is Grain merchants are reluctant to sell and hoard grain, and they all want to wait until the price of grain is the highest before shipping. But the more this happens, the higher the price of grain will rise. Even if we throw out all the grain from the second warehouse of Jingtong, it will not help. The frightened people snapped up everything, and by then the price would be even higher..."
Almost all the grain merchants in Beijing have some background. Even the imperial government cannot force these people to release the grain. And once the government does this, these grain merchants also have many countermeasures. At worst, they will destroy their shops. If all the grain is sold out, a sign saying it is out of stock will only further stimulate grain prices.
"It is also difficult to divert and intercept the refugees. The local authorities have tried their best, but they are unable to solve the food problem of these people." Qi Yongtai said thoughtfully: "In the past few years, the prefectures in Beizhi have been The drought continues and we have almost no savings. In addition to the severe drought this year, we cannot protect ourselves. Now we are faced with the refugees from Datong. We actually expected such a large scale of refugees..."
"The grain in the second warehouse of Jingtong cannot be moved. Firstly, as Ming Qi said, selling the grain in the second warehouse of Jingtong is useless at this time, and will only increase people's panic and continue to raise food prices; secondly, this is to suppress Those at the bottom of the box cannot be used unless they are absolutely necessary. When the refugees arrive, they will have to provide relief, so we still have to find ways from other channels." Li Sancai glanced at Qi Yongtai and said, "Shuntian Mansion has built a new building in Dagukou. There is a lot of food stored in the granary. I know Ziying used it to provide food relief to the refugees when they came to Beijing, but can we..."
Qi Yongtai couldn't help but frown. He knew that the batch of grain that his disciple had hoarded in Dagukou would be targeted.
Feng Ziying mentioned it when he was in Yongping Mansion, and as far as he knew, there were many granaries built by merchants in Yuguan to store grain, but the reason at that time was to mainly supply Liaodong and Eastern Mongolia, and maintain Large-scale grain storage is necessary, and this reason is very good. However, at that time, Yongping Prefecture also built some granaries for grain storage, but the scale was far smaller than the granaries used by merchants.
Feng Ziying has been inspecting grain storage and transportation matters since she arrived in Shuntian Mansion. She has also mentioned to Qi Yongtai many times that poor weather conditions in the north may bring about drought. It is difficult to guarantee demand by relying solely on the Jingtong Second Warehouse and Shui Second Warehouse, especially When water transportation is easily interrupted due to various reasons, this risk is even greater. Qi Yongtai listened to some of it, but still did not pay enough attention.
It seems that Feng Ziying has long realized that water transportation is unreliable, so he vigorously promotes north-south sea trade and wants to replace water transportation with sea transportation, and has indeed made considerable progress.
Without what Feng Ziying did in Yongping Prefecture, Yuguan Port would still be a little-known fishing port. Not to mention north-south shipping, there would be no communication with the surrounding offshore seas. But now it has become a southern goods transport port to western Liaoning and Eastern Mongolia. It is the most important hub in the region, and when water transportation is interrupted, Yuguan Port can immediately assume the important role of southern goods entering and leaving Gyeonggi.
Now that Feng Ziying has arrived in Shuntian Prefecture, he has established a granary in Dagu in the name of Shuntian Prefecture. It is mainly to prepare grain reserves for the relief of refugees who may be displaced in the prefecture and counties of Shuntian Prefecture. This should have been planned by the Ministry of Household Affairs, but now The Ministry of Revenue's Jingtong Second Warehouse was insufficient, making it difficult to stabilize the situation, and had to make local decisions, which was really embarrassing.
Li Sancai's suggestion also won the strong support of Huang Ruliang, who was attending the meeting: "What Brother Daofu said is absolutely true. The grain storage in Dagu should be arranged by the imperial court, and merchants should continue to be encouraged to transport grain here from the south. , replacing Tongzhou as the current throat that maintains food imports in the Gyeonggi region,..."
Ye Xianggao coughed lightly when he saw Qi Yongtai's unfailing expression.
The two men sang together, and it was clear that they had already discussed it. Li Sancai wanted to ensure the supplies of the army coming from the east and south, and Huang Ruliang wanted to stabilize the food supply in the capital. Both of these require food. The little food in Dagukou is only one aspect. They are more concerned about it. What they value most is the food input channel system from the south to the north.
But the problem is that this channel system was obviously established by Feng Ziying, and it is not a government-run system. If the court wants to take over, it means from the port terminal to the storage facilities to the personnel system of the entire transport fleet, as well as the entire personnel system in the south. The trading partner system is quite complicated. It may even be a whole system that people rely on to make a living. Why do you take over it just by saying you want to take it over?
Ye Xianggao even knew that this was not something that Feng Ziying could decide alone. In addition to Feng Ziying's personal affairs, it also involved Shanshan and Shaanxi merchants' plans to go overseas. You must know that in the maritime trade system, almost no Shanshan and Shaanxi merchants were involved. It was only with Feng Ziying's encouragement and even the pressure from Yongping Prefecture's demand for iron materials that we cooperated with southern businessmen. Now it's not easy to see results. If you open your mouth and take it away, it will definitely cause a huge disaster. rebound.
Ye Xianggao knows Qi Yongtai's character well. Although this person is upright, he still considers the overall situation. In this case, he should be able to understand the difficulties of the court, but if he looks too ugly, it will anger the other party, so this is You also have to pay attention to the methods.
(End of this chapter)